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There can only be one

The 80s is host to some of the greatest movies, music and breakthroughs in fashion and for those who weren’t there simply because destiny robbed them of their neon birth right, now is their chance to enter a world no longer exclusive to thirty-somethings. Power gloved or not this is your chance to acquire admission to the 80s World. And it’s super.

Let’s take a look at the synopsis for Super 80s World – we opted for neon pink, naturally:

“Your name is Dan Camaro.

Your collar popped. Your hair long in the back and short on top.

You love fast cars, loud guitars, big hair and leotards.

You love the 80s.

That was your heyday.

You were the lead keytarist in The Kasiotones, a band that once played the title track for “Bark at the Future”. Unfortunately, the Teen-Wolf-Back-to-the-Future mash-up never made it to the big screen. Now you live alone with your dog, Spuds, and dream of what might have been.

In your garage sits the last remnant of that forgotten era: a 1983 Delorean DMC-12 left to you when your high school friend, the movie’s producer, passed away.

You had been restoring it for years.

Today you finally got it to run…”

I was born right on the precipice of the 80s and for me it’s something I revel in today were possible in all mediums. ‘Blood Dragon’ thank-you. Kung Fury, more please. Drive, wizard movie. Lazerhawk albums – lovely!

It’s a great pleasure when I hear about new projects in development that pay such respect to an era I’m rooted in and Tap Tap Good’s Michael Cowden is heading that way.

With a little bit of help we could see him hit the finish line in style.

From the future of 1984

We managed to reach out for chat with Michael whilst donning our shades. This is what he had to say about his project and the 80s.

R.G.B:
Thanks for taking some time out to speak with us. Let’s begin with a little bit about yourself and how you got into video games as an industry, rather than a player?

M.C:“I have spent a bit of time in the technology space and as an entrepreneur, but I’m brand new to this industry. I had been kicking around the idea of doing a game for a while. I wanted to do a project where I could fully exercise all my creative outlets: music, development and art (to a lesser extent). I’m a developer by trade and a musician at heart and had spent the previous two years trying my hand at painting.

R.G.B:What germinated the idea for ’Super 80s World’ and what were your three main influences that made you decide this was the project to put into production?

M.C:”
A couple of years ago I had this idea of a game about the 1980s. I had been listening to a lot of synthwave music at the time and it was really taking me back. I thought it would be cool to create a game where you had to escape the decade and every year was a different world.

I think the main reason I decided to focus on this project was my passion for the decade of my youth: the music, the movies, the pop culture. It’s very colourful decade, on many levels, and I’d thought that would end up translating to a lot of fun in-game.

R.G.B:How many of you are involved on the project and how do you know one another?

M.C:“This had been a solo project for a while, but I recently partnered up with a friend of mine, Jon Eick, to focus on marketing and social media.

He and I met doing Improv Comedy when I first moved to the area. Now he’s helping get the word out about our Kickstarter and subsequent launch of the game.

R.G.B:Is this project full-time, or something you are putting together around other duties?

M.C:“This is something I have been putting together on the side, but it certainly feels like a full-time project. It’s gotten a little easier since I’ve started delegating some of the artwork, but it’s still a lot of work. In retrospect, I probably should have started with something a little less ambitious for my first project.”

R.G.B:Can you tell us a little bit about your company ethos and what kind of workflow you are using?

M.C:“Since it’s just me, the workflow and ethos kind of changes with my mood. Sometimes I try to get methodical about it. I’ll loosely apply scrum and agile development philosophies to help prioritise what needs to be done. Sometimes, I focus by passion – what do I want to work on today? That’s very helpful when things start to feel like a grind. Mostly though, it’s hand-written to-do lists that I add to faster than I can cross things off.”

R.G.B:What is it about the 80’s you love and is the demographic for ’Super 80’s World’ just focused on those of that era?

M.C:“I may be looking through the rose-coloured glasses of nostalgia, but it’s the decade I grew up with – I love it all: the music, the cartoons, the movies, the style… the campy and the cool. The audience is primarily for those who love the 80s, whether they lived through them or not. There’s always an audience for retro, be it in music, fashion or video games.”

R.G.B:If you could go back to the 80’s and bring three things to the present day what would they be?

M.C:“Wow, tough question! I’d have to go with
– New Coke
– Classic Michael Jackson
– My late 80s guess jean jacket with all the bands I loved scribbled all over it…”

What a trooper!

Be sure to come back as we update on the progress of Michael’s development and his Kickstarter, which we highly advocate.